The jam is from my mother's pantry." "Oh, does your mother live far from here?" "Not far," he responded, "as the crow flies. - Megan Whalen Turner

Ambiades, I realized, was the kind of person who liked to put people in a hierarchy, and he wanted me to understand that I was at the bottom of his. He was supposed to treat me politely in spite of my subservient position, and I was supposed to be grateful. For my part, I wanted Ambiades to understand that I considered myself a hierarchy of one. I might bow to the superior force of the magus and Pol, but wasn't going to bow to him. Neither of us moved.

I seem to remember once sharing my oatmeal with you," Sounis remarked.
"I seem to remember stealing your oatmeal," said the former Thief of Eddis, "but it didn't have sand in it."
"Sand?" said Sounis, taken aback.
"Sand, and if my queen notices, she will have someone flayed.

With my good hand I reached under the braid at the base of my neck to free the thong that was tied there. It was the shorter of the two that Pol had given me on the banks of the Aracthus. One-handed, I couldn't easily get the knot undone, and several strands of my own dark hair came with the thong when I pulled it free.
I glanced back briefly at the magus and was delighted to see his mouth open in astonishment.
"Gen," he said under his breath, "you viper."
Above the queen's extended palm I held Hamiathes's Gift. It had hung hidden in my hair since I'd braided it there after first fighting in the Sea of Olives.